Pokemon Legends: Shrine of the Giant Pokemon (Remastered)
by crisisT47
Summary: Froakie and friends are back with this classic debut story! Things aren't quite the same around Everstone Island, as Pokemon are not evolving! It's up to Froakie to start this journey as he travels to discover and solve one of the many mysteries of his home, the Shrine of the Giant Pokemon!
1. Prologue

"You shall become the hero of Everstone Island."

I was sat in a grassy field, and it was all I could see. Nothing beyond the horizon, no flowers or trees to speak of. There was only emptiness.

"The hero?" I called out. "Where the heck am I?"

My words were paid no heed. "You will become the size of a giant. You will acquire the darkest of thoughts. You will find yourself challenged by the trials of the Distortion. You shall climb to and reach the heavens."

I narrowed my eyes. "Er, hello?" Something was telling me to not buy what I was being told. "Can I at least get an explanation?"

Just then, the crisp, blue sky faded to a sinister maroon, and the cotton-like clouds rolled with sheer anger. An enormous silhouette of fire erupted before me, causing sweat to trickle all over my body.

"You will have enemies," that voice said again, "large and fierce. They will taunt you, fight you. Your life is their aim."

I'm gonna die? Well, if you want to bait someone into listening, that's how you do it. "What are you trying to say? Could you explain?"

"Time and evolution are in a frozen state," it said. "You are tasked to restore what has been stolen from you."

"Hold on-"

"You _will_ become the hero of Everstone Island!"

With a sudden jolt, I found myself back in reality, back in the place I called home. My heart was still pounding. Making sense of that scene, how could I? Whether or not it was just a dream or an omen is beyond me. My head is still clouded with sleep, and it was something that I not only want, but need. I swaddled my tiny self in my sheet and covered my head with pillows and let my mind drift off, quickly forgetting this experience.


	2. Chapter 1: Territory Trouble

Everstone Island-I'm telling you, this is one weird place. But, living her all my life, I've gotten used to it. But when you're provided with facts about a place that's as statistically impossible as this one, well, that just speaks for itself. To begin, there are five sectors divided as evenly as possible on the egg-shaped island, with four equally divided parts of the white and one acting as the yolk, if you want to continue that analogy. I'm a resident of that center, where there's a mixture of pretty much whatever you could imagine, from forests, fields, and even a small city in the very heart. It's like everything is here that we need.

But there's always a kick.

Not one Pokémon on this island has a family, other Pokémon of their species to talk to unless they go to another province, or, most critically, the ability to evolve. Only one of each Pokémon per province, for example, Bulbasaur or Charmander, no exceptions.

And today, you get to meet the Froakie of the Central Province! A water type, the Bubble Frog Pokémon, clocking in at exactly one foot tall and weighing just over 15 pounds. But, petty details are petty details.

If you're ever looking for the juicy details on the here and now of the lives of the Pokémon around these parts, I'm not your man. I enjoy the peaceful life here in the forest, spending most of my time in either my tree house or the pond adjacent to my tree. When I'm not swimming or thinking, I find myself writing or wood carving. Why two such unrelated things? Honestly, I don't even have any idea. They're just two things I took up when I was bored one day.

Just because I live a life of solitude doesn't mean my bubble is the only place I stay. I have just a few true friends, those being Sylveon and Oshawott. Although, they do live pretty divergent lifestyles, too. Sylveon is very savvy in unconventional trends these days, and is very different to a judgemental eye, but she manages to hit if off with anyone she meets. And Oshawott… he's a crazy one, that's for sure. He takes everything for granted. Jumping in headfirst at each opportunity, he usually has us worried most of the time. Sometimes, he does swing the coward's way, but we love him nonetheless.

Unfortunately for me, my popularity, or rather a lack thereof, is what tends to keep me inside my bubble. No one really likes me. I can talk my mouth off as a sort of long version of Hyper Voice, my sarcasm is comparable to a Haxorous using Guillotine, and some mistake my ability as Prankster (even though that's practically impossible for my species, but they'll think of anything, really).

This takes me to my humble abode, where our story begins. The forest I live in is just on the outskirts of the city that serves as the pinnacle of our province. The soft rustling of the trees sang to me beautifully as I jotted down ideas for a story while sitting at a table I had carved a while back (maybe they're not so unrelated?). Now, I wouldn't call myself a freak of nature by any means, but when there's a disturbance in the peaceful ambience that disrupts my trains of thought, I won't be the happiest Pokémon out there. To the surprise of hopefully none of you, there just so happened to be an obnoxious banging sound coming from the base of my tree. Slamming my pencil onto the table, I poked my head out the window to see that my little friend Servine was using her tail to make a dent in the trunk, presumably to cut it.

I catapulted myself out onto a lily pad in my pond and hurled some Frubbles (those sticky bubble things around my neck) straight for her. She struggled to peel them all off as I began chiding her immediately. "Darling, what in the name of Arceus are you doing?"

She was already back at it again, but this time her eyes were glued on me. "Cutting it down. What does it look like?"

"This is the third time this week you've been trespassing on my property. I've got the memo that knocking sense into your head is pretty much impossible this point, but could you leave? Like, now?"

Servine and I are next door neighbors in this forest. I don't remember doing anything malicious to her.

"Oh, then maybe you'd like me to force Caterpie to taint your food with Stun Spore?" she hissed. "Or almost cut me with paper airplanes? You could have killed me on multiple occasions, you know!"

"I'd love to see your proof." After all, I did give Caterpie an apology as that prank was a bit rash. "I haven't even mentioned the specifics of the previous encounters this week. I saw you, _clear as day_, taking huge swigs out of my pond. I _swim _in that water. And don't even get me on all the berries you stole from my trees and bushes three days ago."

"The nerve!" She made a haughty gasp that made me roll my eyes so much that I'm pretty sure they went in the back of my head. "_Your _berries and water? I'll have you know this is my territory now!"

"Wow!" A huge smile stretched across my face. "I'm sure you and Torterra have sorted through all the legal details and paperwork, yes?"

"Well…"

"Yeah, I didn't think so either. Now, if you could kindly leave, that-"

I was suddenly cut off by a cutting-edge Razor Leaf (get it?). I dodged in the nick of time, and thank Arceus I did. As much as I hate Servine, she was still powerful, and she's got me disadvantaged typewise, too. I didn't have a choice now, as she was getting ready to send more leaves my way. I charged a swift Water Pulse and lobbed it on a crash course to her. To my dismay, she had dodged away elegantly. I was hoping to catch her off guard with a quick Tackle, but she was faster and scooped me up with a sneaky Vine Whip, and I was slammed into my own tree.

I plopped in the grass and tried to catch my breath, but Servine was going to knock me out cold. She kept going with Vine Whip, slapping me with one after another. Luckily, she was so into turning me to goo that she didn't hear the thudding coming from somewhere nearby. And that was when a hulking Torterra barreled into Servine, sending her rolling across the earth.

Sore and bruised, I lethargically stood and tried to approach the bristling Torterra until he boomed, "Both of you! Don't you dare move!"

"He was the one who attacked me first!" Servine shrieked. "He's always doing that! I think it's about time you get rid of him!"

"Really?" I fought back. "You're the one who meanders over into my own territory, beat me senselessly today, and even tried to cut down my tree!"

Torterra exploded again. "OUT! Both of you!"

We looked at each other, and then at him again. "What?"

"I said OUT! Not one Pokémon in this forest is particularly fond of your shenanigans!"

I began burning out of anger and embarrassment. "Well, couldn't you maybe just shift-"

"NO!" If Torterra was about to use Flamethrower, I wouldn't have been too surprised. "Time and time again I get complaints because both of you can't help but tear off every single leaf here. Which is why I'm making the executive decision of evicting you two."

"You can't just leave _me _homeless!" Servine was just about ready to chop him to pieces.

"Oh, yes I can. If you're not out by sunset, I'll destroy your homes and toss you out myself!"

Pressuring him further would most likely spell certain death, so I just hopped up in my tree and told Torterra to give me only an hour, even if my tone was drier than a desert. There wasn't much that I needed to take: just a blanket, pillow, my writings, and basic woodcutting tools, along with some berries. It's technically illegal to take food out of the forest, but I'm already going to be a vagabond on the streets anyway. Might as well start early.

I could still hear Servine trying to argue her way into staying, but all her attempts bore no fruit. I even got another tree quake as Torterra had most likely used Wood Hammer to send her flying for the trunk. But Little Miss Princess can't get everything, now can she?

I was all packed up and ready to leave when I heard Servine's agitated rustling in the shrubbery. That meant that Torterra was about to get going, too, so I scrambled outside to toss him some of our currency as a "tip." Before he could even question me, I was gone, and I didn't look back.

And so, welcome to my brand new home: the streets! While it's going to be a bit difficult (and a bit humiliating) to know that I'm going to have to live in a box and start begging for change, I'm going to try to be hopeful. Perhaps this could be a fun little challenge for me; see how well you can survive without a home for the amount of time it takes to find another one. It's a little wordy, but it's unfortunately my reality now. All I'm wondering now is where to next? Looks like I'm going to have quite the interesting journey ahead of me.


	3. Chapter 2: Pokécademy Signups

And sweet Arceus was I right in saying I have an interesting journey ahead of me. Each place for shelter I tried to go to; every square inch of every building imaginable: I was shut out due to circumstances beyond my control. But seriously, how is everywhere booked? Nothing special is going on in the next few days that I'm aware of.

Until I heard the shouts and screams of Pokémon my age.

These voices weren't exactly close, but they were boisterous enough to at least echo throughout the entire city. At first, I tried ignoring it. Angry mobs comprised of kids, tweens, or teens is something to be best avoided by all means. But, as the saying goes, curiosity killed the Torracat. Something kept me from hopping in the direction opposite of the melodyless sea of conflicting voices.

I wasn't quite dead yet, but I would not be surprised if my corpse started flying around like the deeply coveted pens that went from claw to paw to hand to tail. This puts the homeless aspect of my life on the sidelines. It was a brawl, moves being dealt out left and right just to get your name on the giant board proudly advertising something called the Pokécademy. It didn't make sense, seeing how there were 18 different sheets for each type, with at least 15 slots on each. Anyone with a dual typing had it even easier.

It would have been a good idea to check what my priorities were at the time, but I had nothing to lose. I put on a game face and tried to push my way into the mass of Pokémon before me. As expected, I was pushed away almost immediately, tumbling away. This only fired me up even more to get me a spot. Did I really need to go to school? Probably not. But _why _not?

I noticed as I stood my distance, that the pens were still being flung around the crowd like weapons. If I could time it just right…

Shimmering in the sunlight, I saw the opportunity. I lunged high and far for it, and my patience paid off. My hands were able to nab the pen, and I flipped over the center of the crowd. Giving myself a boost off of the head of the one unfortunate enough to be under me, I latched onto the board near the Water type sheet and managed to scribble my name on one of the lines before some Flying type managed to steal it right back.

Great! In just a few days, I'm going to start my journey to Water type-scholarhood. What could be more exciting? Then it occured to me: What would I do within those few days? These 48 to 72 hours will be a lot of hours, and I'd rather not spend them on the streets scavenging through trash bins or begging for spare change. I was exiled from my home, after all. I _really _didn't have anything to lose. And from what I know, cities aren't too forgiving. As much as I'd like to be relaxed, I had to put on a brave face. It was time to get serious and actually come up with a plan for once, but there's no need to be hasty. I'd need to get a sense of my surroundings first, so perhaps a quick running around the city would help me get my feet on the right track. But how naive of me to think that I'd actually start making progress, as a certain sassy creature I'm sure we all already know and love just had to stop me.

"Oh, so you decided to come crawling to the city, too, Froakie?" I looked over my shoulder to see Serving glaring at me.

"You're still at it?" I spat back, hiding under my causticity. "We're _both_ homeless, I hope you know."

"So you don't have family in the city?" A triumphant grin was pulled across her face.

That hit deep. "I hope you know how lucky you are to actually be able to say that."

"You're just jealous!"

"Name at least 10 other Pokémon that have family in this province!"

I could feel some eyes beginning to follow our little confrontation. I can tell Servine knew too, as her eyes began taking in this newfound attention.

"What does that have to do with anything?" Her movements and tone became more dramatic. "Froakie, you ought to count your blessings and not care about what others have!"

"Then tell me why you started cutting down _my _tree on _my _property before Torterra gave us the boot! Were your _blessings_ not enough in the forest to the point where you needed mine?" She opened her mouth to speak, but I denied her turn. "And can you also tell me what blessings I even have at this point? I'm stuck foraging for food through trash cans and you're probably going to be in a warm house eating a warm, hearty meal!"

"Welcome to the real world, Froakie!" Servine snickered. "Some Pokémon come out on top, and others swim in dumpsters." I could hear some others chuckling along with her. I could safely say that my walls were weakening.

"That doesn't mean you can just mock the less fortunate! Fine, you're more well off that me. But how many people share your position?" My eyes began scanning the audience. "C'mon, anyone! Who here has a family member they can go back to? Raise a hand, paw, whatever you got!"

I could see only two Pokémon raise a part of their body in the air. "Like I said, very few have someone to run to when they're alone. Now, why don't you run off to your little family as soon as your business is done here? Because mine is, and I clearly don't have any more time to waste on you." This was checkmate, I hope. It was dead silent now, and I turned my back to Servine. My last words should have frozen her as much as they did to the bystanders watching.

"Froakie, look out!" I suddenly heard a voice call out. My head perked up and I dashed to the side, only to see the volley of leaves that would have sliced at me if I hadn't dodged so quickly.

"What the heck is your problem?!" I shouted back at my assailant. Quickly turning, a shot a Bubble Beam at the direction of Servine. She easily batted the attack away. Then she began using Growth. "Great," I muttered under my breath. "Now she wants to beat up the homeless."

"You're gonna regret talking to me like that!" Servine cried.

Too bad her bigger size didn't slow her down because now I had to be extra careful with the vines flying towards my face. They cracked left and right, and it was getting exhausting. I had to get in, and Aerial Ace seemed to do the trick. The one deft blow seemed to knock her down a considerable amount. A devious idea crossed my head, and keeping my opponent in mind, I was more than ready to follow through. Servine was already up, and I positioned myself right in front of her. She then swung her tail in an attempt to clobber me with a Leaf Blade, but my deke proved successful. I jumped up, and dove in to use Lick right on her face.

As soon as my tongue made contact, I could feel her body shudder. "Yuck, gross!" She tossed me away and hard and shook her head violently (which I _guess_ you could say was a reasonable reaction). "What the _hell_ is wrong with you, Froakie?!"

"_I'm _not the one who attacked first," I retorted. And thus, I walked away. Servine didn't dare attack me again.

Now, where was I? Oh, right. I was now a beggar. If I was going to survive, I was going to need to find some form of shelter. I didn't think shelter was going to be a realistic option, but I knew that I was too stubborn to starve. If I had to dig through garbage, I would, as much as the idea made me gag. But at least the Pokécademy was coming up soon, right? _Right?!_

"Shut up!" I whispered to myself. I closed my eyes and took a deep breath. It was going to be okay. Well, no it wasn't, but I was most certainly going to make the best of my situation. If I just smiled, I'd be okay. There are probably possibilities that I don't know of yet, and they'll present themselves if I need them. If I just smile, then everything will be fine. The Pokécademy was soon, and I just needed to keep going until then.

Just pray that I'm not rotting in an alley before then.


End file.
